According to the July 2015 report from the Department for Communities and Local Government: Local Authority Revenue Expenditure and Financing: 2015-16 Budget, England, local government expenditure will be down £3.3bn in the next 12 months. Cuts will affect services, suppliers and most importantly, citizens and staff.
When I see these figures like these, it is clear that technology and automation are key if the austerity numbers are to be realised. There are three complex technology flashpoints:
Firstly, the applications required to manage the expenditure are likely to be different in each local government team, making consolidated reporting or analysis of any kind a Herculean task.
Secondly, it can be difficult to get consolidated data for analysis from the spaghetti mix of software and manual processes used to manage the expenditure areas.
Lastly, there’s the major resource planning requirements to manage the citizen and business-facing applications behind initiatives such as council tax.
No local government authority has just one IT services provider, or even one vendor for its critical business processes. Our research shows that an average local government manages up to 150 vendor relationships to meet its responsibilities. This will continue to grow as the mandate to use SMB and local suppliers is increased.
The way forward definitely lies in moving to an enterprise approach, using the cloud to deliver streamlined integration of multiple software applications. This puts the focus back on what needs to be delivered and to whom, beginning with the ideal user experience in mind and removing complexities of disparate systems.
TechnologyOne’s view is that services to both employees and citizens can be improved by moving application service delivery and integration to a cloud-based model. Financials, Property, Assets, HR and Payroll systems can be streamlined and secured. Diminishing budgets and the constant need for transparency within local government, means that clarity of reporting is hugely important.
To achieve this, systems must work together harmoniously and reliably. Enterprise software as a service delivers on this promise.
Roger Phare is operating officer at TechnologyOne.